Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, came to Tangeman University Center Cinema Thursday to address the issue of illegal immigration. The defense corps is a civil group that guards the US borders.

The University of Cincinnati was the final stop on Simcox's 10-university tour this spring. Erin Shearer, chairwoman of the College Republicans, invited him to speak.

The problem of illegal immigration is not just a conservative or republican issue, it is one that affects the entire community, Shearer said.

Simcox, a former California educator, started his organization following a trip to the Mexican-American border a week after Sept. 11, 2001.

He became "deeply concerned" with the number of illegal aliens he saw crossing the border unabated and unimpeded. Simcox compared the Mexican-American border to a war zone.

"Our government was basically deceiving us," Simcox said, in regard to protection against terrorism, with heightened airport security and the encouragements to buy duct tape and plastic.

"Our borders were left wide open," Simcox said. "The potential for terrorists to enter our country was real."

Simcox accused the Bush Administration of negligence in protecting the borders and said that the government is continuing to fail Americans.

The organization has been referred to as an extremist vigilante group, but that is inaccurate, Simcox said.

"This is a movement of concerned, passionate, level-headed, law-abiding citizens who did something so controversial as forming a neighborhood watch group," he said. "We don't take the law into our own hands."

Before Sept. 11, human smuggling was basically a "mom-and-pop" job, Simcox said. The trafficking of human beings is now in the hands of drug cartels and crime syndicates, which have lead to a rise in violence and death.

Simcox said he had personally found 35 dead illegal aliens in the desert.

"We want immigrants to enter the country with dignity," he said.

Simcox praised President Felipe Calderón of Mexico for his pledge to provide economic opportunities for Mexican citizens, but Simcox stressed the need to protect all of the borders of the United States.

"I'm completely against fence building," Simcox said. "I think it's repulsive and offensive. Unfortunately, we've been left with no other choice."

Simcox believes the United States needs to reform and streamline the immigration process.

"It's not fair to those immigrants who've come here legally," he said. "[We] need to protect the value of immigrating to this country."

Simcox urged the students in attendance to check his sources and facts, and to check them numerous times. He said having an ignorant and uneducated populous was dangerous.

The College Democrats and the International Socialist Organization protested Simcox's visit.

While ISO chose to hold signs and demonstrate at the entrance to the Cinema, the College Democrats opted instead to ask questions and engage in debate, said Casey Trimble, a second-year political science and history student and chairman of the College Democrats.

The College Democrats were there to protest what they called a message of racism, Trimble said.

Shearer said she had a different impression of Simcox.

"I thought he was very fair," she said. "He's been conveyed before as being a racist and vigilante, I think [his presentation] really proved this wasn't his goal or purpose."

"Simcox spoke for more than an hour to occasional applause." Cincinnati Enquirer

Media Credit: Sebastian Rojas Protesters from International Socialist Organization and the College Democrats disapproved of Simcox's message outside MainStreet Cinema in Tangeman University Center Thursday.

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